MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

4/9 Volstad ready to go

On Monday night, Chris Volstad will make his Cubs debut when the team opens a four-game series against the Brewers. Volstad can’t wait.

“It’s been fun here so far, the way the fans have been,” said the right-hander, acquired from the Marlins for Carlos Zambrano. “Opening weekend was awesome here, and something I’ve never seen before. I’m ready to get going now and get that first game and get the season started.”

It’s different because the Marlins, where Volstad pitched before, didn’t have 40,000 fans every day.

“The energy level, excitement — and it’s not a secret what was going on as far as attendance in Florida,” Volstad said. “There’s definitely a difference.”

The right-hander might want to check the flags. The wind is blowing out of the northwest and gusting.

“The first day, it was howling in and about 40 degrees and [Saturday] was nicer,” Volstad said. “It’s something you’ve got to get used to. For me, a sinker baller, trying to keep it down, the way the conditions are doesn’t really matter.”

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